Do you remember where you were when JFK was assassinated?

Question

I was in school.
The principal came in, whispered something to the teacher.
She put her hands to her face and began to cry.

We were dismissed from school early.

Answer 1

I was helping my Grandmother by pushing the foot pedal on her Singer sewing machine. The announcement came on the TV and she turned her head while still feeding the material. The needle hit her finger and she let out a bloodcurdling cry. I was sure I had done something wrong and had hurt her. A little while later she assured me that wasn't the case and explained to me what all had happened. Funny how things like that stick with you your entire life.

Answer 2

I was in my grade school class, I was 11, the intercom came on, and it took a bit to understand what had happened. We did not get to leave early, wish we could have. I still get upset when I see the tape of Walter Chronkite take off his glasses, and announce the time of Kennedy's death.( sorry Water, I misspelled your name) My Mom bought me the Life magazine of the shooting, I still have it. We went on vacation that summer to Washington, DC, and I got to see the gravesite. There was no concrete, just grass and the eternal flame. It is a impressive site, to go over the bridge from Washington to Arlington cemetery, and see that flame up on the hill. We went back, some years later, and saw the finished site. Did you all see the PBS special about how the site was picked? They knew that the flame could be seen up there, that's why it was picked. I hope they air it again, I did not get to see all of it. I guess we will never know why it happened, Jack Ruby, and Sirhan are both gone, too.
And now, Jackie and John are gone, too. Jack's death was the end of an era, John and Jackie's, another.

Answer 3

i was 6 yrs. old and in the second grade. the principal came over the intercom and told us what happened. i was in parochial school and sister told us to all stand and say a hail mary, our father and glory be for the president's soul. after we did that, we were dismissed from school. i remember walking home and there were people in the street crying & sobbing and screeming because the president was dead. i was scared, i thought that something bad was going to happen to our country because we didn't have a president. i even remember watching the funeral on tv and seeing a horse coming down the street with boots turned backwards and no rider. then the casson with the president's casket was behind the horse. very sad times in 1963.

Answer 4

I was in school, too...in the auditorium in drama class rehearsing a play. Somebody, not sure if it was a teacher or student, came in and told us what had happened. We went back to the classroom. When my next class began, the principal spoke over the intercom and asked us to have a moment of silence to respect the memory of the President. Very sad day. Spent the entire weekend watching tv w/my mom and grandmother.

Answer 5

I was in the 5th grade and all teachers were told, over the intercom, to report to the office. My teacher came back and wrote it on the blackboard as he cried and he all so wrote class dismissed. It was a very sad day and a day I will never forget!

Answer 6

I was in 3rd grade. We were in the middle of a geography lesson. our principal walked in and he was crying so hard we could barely understand what he was saying. All we could hear before he broke down was"Boys and girls, the President of the United States (course back then, you respected the President of the United States and we even said "One nation under GOD in the Pledge of Allegiance).And he lost it. And our teacher, Mrs. Mack, started shaking and crying. And we all bowed our heads- and remember, back then kids got out early on certain days of the school week to go to their church to attend religious training - that was part of the curriculum back then. Baptists went on one day, Catholics another, whatever. But we all bowed our heads to pray. And in our little inncocent hearts, prayed as one,"Dear God, please help our President Kennedy, and all who got shot. Bless his wife and children." And then we were all sent home to sit by our television sets and watch the news.(Back then we had 3 channels). And even the factories shut down, the stores closed down. And the nation mourned, glued to the television..Those that could not afford a tv went to the neighbor's to watch, in black and white. I guess we were all mourning the end of an era; the happy 50's like, you know, Fonz on Happy Days kind of life, Opie in the Andy Griffith show kind of life. Days when little kids thought it was just the greatest thing to ride on the tailgate of a station wagon downtown for ice cream. Heck, that's illegal now and child endangerment. You can't even ride a bike without a helmet now. But I think moreso than mourning for our president, we were mourning for a lifestyle this country would never see again. Our innocence as a nation was gone. Our superiority as a nation was gone. Bye bye, Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry......

Answer 7

actually i was 8 years old, we lived in LA at the time and i was in the back yard playing with my tonka toys. my mother came in the back yard crying so bad she couldn't talk it wasn't until later that i found out why she was crying.

what i remember more then that day was the day jfk was buried. tv only had 3 channels back then and i remember turning the tv and seeing the same thing on all three channels.

Answer 8

In a car, Main Street, USA, a pedestrian walked up to me, I was a 20 year male in a slow moving vehicle. He asked, "What's the latest". Looked at him, and responded, "The Presidest's dead"....He cried, "Oh, NO!"....Pulled my car to the curb--cried as a baby----and crying now------Will say no more----and turn the computer off----- need another tissue.... to stay on line will make a mistake----barely able to srr the keyboarid

Answer 9

I was 6 or 7 years old. I was at my grandmother's home. When my mom came to pick me up, my grandmother told her the news. She sat down with me in her lap watching TV and cried.

Answer 10

I was not even thought of at the time... I was born a little less than a year after the assassination.